medication abortion

Advocates in Missouri head to court today to argue that the state is unconstitutionally blocking access to abortion care — more than a year after voters chose to overturn the statewide ban. And this trial is all happening as another statewide vote on abortion looms later this year.

Abortion rights advocates are headed to trial next week to argue that Missouri’s regulations on reproductive health care violate the state’s constitution. The passage of Amendment 3 in 2024 protects the right to abortion care, but existing regulations and legal challenges have made access limited.

Abortion may be legal again in Missouri, but only 80 elective abortions have been performed in the year since Amendment 3 passed. Decades of restrictions have gutted the state’s provider network, and medication abortion is still unavailable as the courts sort out which old laws are constitutional.

The FDA approved a new generic form of mifepristone in September, expanding the accessibility of a common abortion medication. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is taking over a lawsuit challenging the approval in federal court.

Procedural abortions are available at three Planned Parenthood clinics in Missouri, but medication abortions remain completely unavailable as numerous legal fights unfold over the state's restrictions.

Voters in both Kansas and Missouri have chosen to protect reproductive rights in their state constitutions. So why are abortion rights advocates challenging both states in court? We’ll have the latest on pending legal battles and the state of the abortion debate in the region.

Former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Republican attorneys general from Kansas and Idaho intervened in a case aimed at challenging the safety of mifepristone. After the U.S. Supreme Court said that anti-abortion groups couldn’t sue, Missouri became the lead plaintiff.

Despite Missourians voting to legalize abortion 10 months ago, Planned Parenthood remains unable to prescribe abortion medication — the most common kind of abortion — to patients.

Andrew Bailey's lawsuit, filed in Cole County Circuit Court, claims that Planned Parenthood is downplaying the safety issues of mifepristone. Planned Parenthood responded that Bailey has repeatedly "spread lies and disinformation to push his own anti-abortion agenda."

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit in 2023 along with attorneys general from Kansas and Idaho aimed at overturning guidelines for greater access to the medication abortion pill. The Trump administration will defend an earlier decision that affirms those guidelines.

Expanded clinic capacity and an influx of people traveling from other states fueled the increase in abortions, according to researchers.

Planned Parenthood has asked a judge to overturn the Missouri health department’s newly published emergency rule governing complication plans for medication abortions. The organization also sued Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey over his cease and desist order.